


Just To Be Sure

by Starofwinter



Category: Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Introspection, Rituals, Weapons As Metaphors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-05-01 23:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14531688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/pseuds/Starofwinter
Summary: Rex keeps his blasters maintained, just to be sure.





	Just To Be Sure

It’s just to be sure, Rex thinks.

There’s something calming about the slide of durasteel against durasteel, the heft of his blasters in his hands.  It feels  _ normal _ .  

It’s just to be sure that he’s ready, if the Empire ever shows up here, whether they’re looking for his family or just looking to drain another world dry.  

The repetition of familiar motions, of a routine that’s been drilled into him since the day he came out of his tank, it relaxes him in a way he hasn’t found anywhere else.

Safety on.  Trigger guard on.  Power pack disengaged and set aside.  Grip off first, then barrel. The motion is smooth and easy, and he doesn’t even have to think about it.  

He doesn’t want to think about why he only feels calm and safe with a blaster in his hand, that he’s only ever been a soldier or that he’s afraid he’ll only ever  _ be  _ a soldier, that he’ll only ever be a weapon himself, on one side or another.

No, he thinks, he isn’t a weapon.

Weapons, like the pistol in his hands, are simple, uncomplicated, easy to care for.  He knows how to fix a weapon, knows how to make it work.

It would be easier if he was a weapon.  

Now, he’s just a man.  A soldier without a war.  There’s no reason to use the blasters he holds, to keep them perfectly maintained the way he does.  He could set them aside, leave them holstered and stored away. 

He doesn’t, though.  He keeps them close, maintains them, cleans them, uses them as the only touchstones a soldier like him can ever have.

Just to be sure.


End file.
